HRM reactions to crisis situations: a latent class analysis approach

Purpose When organizations are faced with adversity, they often react by implementing certain human resource management (HRM) practices. This study aims to investigate how organizations tend to combine these HRM reactions into HRM bundles and how these bundles relate to organizational size and activity level. Design/methodology/approach In the current study among organizational representatives (n = 303 at time 1, n = 427 at time 2, n = 203 at time 3, n = 143 at time 4, and n = 132 at time 5), we use latent class analysis to uncover HRM bundles. Findings HRM reactions can be classified into three classes, i.e. a promotion-focused class, a prevention-focused class and a minimal adaptation class. Minimal adaptation was more likely to be prevalent in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, the promotion-focused class, compared with the other classes, was linked with a higher activity level. Finally, class occurrences seemed to change as the crisis situation progressed. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. Originality/value Arguably offering a more realistic image of HRM reactions in times of crisis, this study is the first to underline the occurrence of HRM bundles (rather than individually adopted practices), proposing a framework and describing when and by whom the bundles are typically applied.